St. Landry democrat., 1887-12-24
freedom in the Chinese city, which is a sort
of annex to the first Citv

The Chinese city may be seen bv facing
about and looking southwark, for the sontb
wall OF the Tartar city forms part Of the
north wall OF the Chinese city, which is a
tritte wider but only half the depth IF the
original city. Thus bird'seye view gives
the general effect Of a square (tha Tartar
city, upon a rectangle (the Chinese cityj.
Here then are displayed the theory and
practice OF Chinese exclusiveness, and to
make the picture complete its failure is re-
vealed and emphasized in the same sweep Of
the eye. Passing over the fact that the
gates of the prohibited city have at last been
opened to foreign ambassadors, let the eve
rest on the handsome Roman Catholic ca,he-
dral, which not only rises up within the
walls OF the imperial city, but is enCircled
by It's own walls and shut in by its own
gates, an independent, exclusive stronghold
within the very precincts set apart for the
imperial court. Then, besides the Chinese
who have settled in what was intended for
all exclusively Tartar city, there are the per
manent establishments Ofthe hated foreigner.
literally under the walls Of the imperial city.
The very fact that the foreigner NAV stand
upon the walls Of Pekug and deliberately
study these details is in itself very s:yniti-
cant. II is not so long ago that the desire to
mI>Iead strangers as to the real Cha-4 ter Of
fekIng was 50 great that they We're led
through the crowded streets only. AMI thus
visitors to the metropolis carried away the
notion that four millions of inhabitants was
sufficiently modest estimate for it. The
visitor who with these figures in his mind,
walks atfpy rla uraIi nd ,,l- Il
the cities will have good cause to wonder.
lhe total circumference Of the Tartar and
Chinese cities is a few wards more than
twenty miles, or considerably less than that
of Manhattan island. Both cities are
amply supplied with large spaces given
up to gardens, temples and ruins, and
the imperial and prohibited cities with their
handful Of inhabitants take up one-Iuarter
OF the Tartar city. Then, again the houses
are all low. a two-stored dwelling being
marked exception, so that pack as closely as
they will the number of persons in them
must be very small as compared with those
i'll the five and six-storied tenements Of Eu-
rope and America. Taking New York with
its million of inhabitants Is a guide the
conclusion is inevitable that seven hundred
and fifty thousand is generous estimate of
the number of persons living within the
twenty miles of wall around Peking and it
must be borne in mind that the city has,
almost literally, no inhabited suburbs.
The overestimate of the population of
Peking is probably a fair example of the ex-
aggeration i'll the population of the whole
empire. What the actual population is can
only be guessed at, and that guess is most
frequently made at 800, 100000; good round
number which iustities the description Of the
population as teeming. That in fact il does
not TEEN is evident TO every intelligent trav-
eler in that country, who sees on every side,
wherever he goes, vast tracts of land not
half under cultivation Moreover, a glance
at even theexaggerated figures of the Chinese
will show that according to them the popu-
latiOn is not nearly what it has been repre-
sented. China proper, which is only about
half of the empire of China, is estimated by
the Chinese to contain about 81 ,0On, go of
people. The area of China proper is 400
900 square miles which will give all average
of 265 persons to square mile or about one
fifth more than Massachusetts, accommo-
dates.
One of the most striking features Of Pc
king are its ruins. Whether walking
through its filthy streets or on its noble walls
these ruins continually obtrude themselves.
The wonder constantly is as TO the reason
for their existence. They are mostly of low
novels and consequently not in any way an
element of beauty in the Landscape. and
while, from their lowness, they are not dan
@haI parrainlv hp OF
wasted revenue to their owners. 1t seems
that many years ago one of the emperors OF
the present dynasty issued an edlct. for
reason good to himself, no doubt, but not
made public, which forbade the pulling down
of a house If it should ssll of itself, good;
but it must not be aided Hence the ruins.
But in China one must not examine de-
tails if he would avoid disheartening re-
Elections. Look at everything with tar
sighted eye, which, rejecting single OBJECTS,
makes delightful combinations with masses.
Then. how will Peking be gloritied. Then
the miserable huts melt out Of existence and
in their stead the delighted eye rests on
graceful curves and fairy-like peaks; the
tumbe-down pagodas become picturesque
monuments Of spiritual longings; the masses
of green foliage the dull, gray-black OF the
house tiles, the bright yellow of the tenn
pies and the vivid red of the prohibited city
walls contrast here and harmonic there,
and at one wink the eye leaps from squalor
to splendor.
Form and color, outline and perspective,
sentiment and action. Yes, above ana
beyond the Peking of intention and OF tact IS
the Peking of accident and of fancy-the
Peking of the artist. Ay. and the poet TOO,
standing on that massive wall, can hno
fitting food for his imagination to feed upon
Let his eye rest upon that white building
under the walls Of the imperial city,
building as foreign to its surroundings aS
even the Catholic cathedral. 1t is Nohain-
medan mosque.
The plain story of its existence Is 'ha'
princess of Turkestan was once sent as
gift to the Emperor of China. The emperor
loved, the maiden plned. The Emperor
wished for the maiden love, but the MAIDEN
vearned for home. Custom, the true ruler
of China, forbade the qualification Of het
longing However, the Emperor loved a.lo
behold he one day led the maiden 10 'l!e
ton of the red wall and bade her look AS
her eyes had pierced the weary distance 0c-
tween her and her home she saw the mosque